Tree trimming one way to prevent power outages

Itís easy to fault the company responsible for maintaining high-voltage transmission lines through our communities when it clear-cuts trees in the corridors instead of trimming them.

But itís not difficult to fault its intent: Reducing the possibility of power failures in severe weather, the failures which otherwise would affect a large number of people, including those angered by removal of trees.

But even with a policy of clear-cutting, itís possible to do a better job of communicating with nearby homeowners.

ITC Holdings, spun off from Detroit Edison a decade ago, operates 8,400 miles of transmission lines in seven states. The aggressive new policies became apparent in 2008, when ITC removed trees on the Macomb Orchard Trail in northwest Macomb County.

Detroit Edison until then had trimmed trees that approached the high-voltage lines, as it often does below power lines in our subdivisions.

The asphalt trail, on a rail roadbed, extends from a welcome center at Dequindre and 24-Mile north and east to Romeo and east through Armada to Richmond.

ITC made no friends with the change, although Chief Operating Officer Jon Jipping pointed out that federal standards following a 2003 blackout over the eastern half of the nation effectively required it.

One township supervisor called the companyís idea of a recreational trail ďa field with a sidewalk in the middle of it.Ē

ITC prevailed against lawsuits, but changed its tune, offering to plant vegetation in the corridor that doesnít threaten the power lines.

Controversies about clearance under power lines have been with us for years. Most of us would rather have our subdivision power lines protected than our favorite nearby trees untouched, even when the result, for a time, looks like butchery.

Our recollection is that the 2003 power outage that darkened the eastern U.S. for days began when an overheated high-voltage wire slumped into a tree in Ohio. It was worsened by the failure of interconnected utilities to pull away from the first-affected region.

We worry that the interconnection issues havenít yet been resolved.

But we shouldnít have to worry about the trees under the lines. Thereís a simple solution for them, and one we can live with.